"Banal" a human error to the origin of the collision between the Ulysse ferry and portacontainer the CLS Virginia



A "common human error": both the responsibles of the conduction of two means were engaged in private telephone conversations. "A common" incident, as if this adjective almost understated the custom to speak on the phone when means are being guided, as if it alluded to the triviality of the cause of the incident. In fact anyone during the day bothers to observe some ten of motor vehicles that pass to it next can state that some leading is engaged in a conversation to the cell phone, and it is with the apparatus tightened in a hand and stuck to the ear, that is it is in illegal and dangerous way.

This human error is more and more of frequent origin of incidents on the roads, but the telephone is becoming also a source of distraction for pilots of other means between which the ships. This is in fact the cause characterized which in charge of the incredible collision between the Ulysse ferry of the company of Tunisian navigation Companies Tunisienne de Navigation (CTN) and portacontainer the CLS Virginiums of the Cypriot company Cyprus Sea Lines (CSL) happened at the beginning of October ( of 8 October 2018), incredible date the orthogonal angle-shot between the routes of the two ships, with the ferry that almost seems has with aimed success the center of the portacontenitori for being sure to collide with it.

To assess "the common human error" that he has provoked the collision has been a commission of international experts formed in order to inquire on the incident that has involved the ship ro-ro of the CTN and the portacontainer of the CSL, that it has ascertained that to the telephone not was only the official of navigation of the responsible Ulysse in that moment of the conduction of the ship, but also the commander of the CLS Virginiums.

In the course of a press conference held yesterday in the center of the Tunisian Ministry of the Transports in order to introduce the results of the investigations is specified that the official of navigation of the Ulysse was telephoning and sending messages from its cell phone without to become account of the warning of possible collision that was visualized on the screen of the radar and that such serious error is the root cause of the incident between the two ships. Moreover the navigation official has not lend attention to the signallings of the CLS Virginiums. This last one, moreover, was firm to the anchor in a marine area that is a point of passage of other ships.

The investigation has carried also to light contradictions in the testimonies of the members of the crew of the CLS Virginiums from which it has been possible to assess that also the commander of the portacontainer was occupied to the telephone and she did not lend attention to the possible risk of collision.

Regarding the compensations, the Tunisian and Cypriot authorities have decided to introduce a denunciation to the French judicial system in order to determine the responsibilities and to estimate the entity of the damages that would have to be reimbursed from the insurance agencies. To such purpose it is specified that the withdrawal of the service of the Ulysse ship has caused to a every day loss pairs to 7.000 euros and that the Tunisian marine authorities will start a contest in order to choose a society that will be charged to repair the ship ro-ro to the aim to put again it in next service in June or July.